Arizona Chickens

[kukupecpec]

Oh boy, the ants are trouble right now. We were bitten terribly yesterday. DE might work on some ants. I've had relatively good luck with DE during the drier times of year on smaller species of ants, but with this humidity the effectiveness of DE will be greatly diminished (it works best at humidity levels lower than 65%). Once it gets wet it is completely ineffective. I had very mixed luck with leaf-cutter ants. I killed two of three colonies with DE earlier this spring. The two colonies that succumbed I managed to hit right as they emerged this spring and they never recovered. The third (and larger) colony has suffered greatly, but they still carry on. If they are in the coop near chicks I'd probably go nuclear on them and use an ant killer like this that the chickens can't easily get into. I also just found a box of Borax, which I have yet to try. It's supposed to work well with less of a toxic risk compared to the proprietary ant killers. I'll let you know how it works.

I've been using Diatomaceous Earth mixed with a little Garden and Poulty Dust. It's deadly on them. I put it at all the places they come through. I have a video of then, I have no idea of how to down load it. I put about a teaspoon dust to cup of DE.

i watch my aloha 2 month olds while they walk across the top of my 6ft fence, i worry that one day they will hop over to the neighbors - VACANT - yard, which at the moment still has green grass. In my experience, when pullets get old enough to fall in love with my giant brahma rooster (who can barely fly to the 2 ft high roost) they dont leave him, they lose all interest in the neighbors yards, lol

i have put DE in the nesting material to cut down on ant invasions. i read that it doesnt kill ants, but it irritates them and they try to avoid it. you can also put a barrier of DE around the run to discourage them coming in. i had one bad colony last year and had to keep my chickens locked up and put out ant bait stakes, the same brand name as gallo mentioned. no more ants after 2 days!

Thank you guys so much! You may have just saved my entire flock. My MIL wants to spray the whole backyard with ant killer but I will try these first. I really don't want to make my chickens sick or worse.
I'll let you know how it all works!

 

[kevs-chickadees]

Texas root rot is a fungal disease, so yes, mycelium is a bad thing if it is the root rot fungal mycelium. I was talking with Mark Dimmitt recently, he is former curator of plants at the Desert Museum, and he said to avoid Texas root rot, don't bring in soil from somewhere else, particularly if it is from old cotton fields, which can be infested with it. Of course some housing developments had fill brought in, don't know about your place. Did your peach tree die really suddenly? That is a hallmark of the disease, as well as the dead leaves stay hanging on the branches.

I had a peach tree die all of a sudden and I wondered what it was. Then the orange tree right next to it did the same thing. Never saw any fungus or anything out of the ordinary.

I've come to the conclusion, which might be wrong, but I think it's where all the backwashed pool water would collect. Any recommendations for books on the different diseases and their signs/what to look for?

 

[kevs-chickadees]

Well MSN you never cease to amaze me with your lameness, esp with today's survey and the lame responses.

 

[City farm]

Just starting to get into the monsoon season here on the border. The girls are doing well. I have been taking pails of water and soaking the run for them to play in. Hot and muggy is not much fun. Still no eggs yet. But they are maturing into some big birds alright!  What are you guys feeding these days? I am currently using some Multi-flock crumble mixed into some layer pellets. I had some scratch that was left over and since I really don't feed that much right now with the heat, I added that as well. seems to be getting along well. As for leftovers, spring salad and tomatoes goes over really well. Gonna look for some watermelon today.  Hope all is well, Gravy and Din-Din my Rio Grande Turkeys say hi.  Take care folks.

Well our little brats get the rhine... "The things I do for the flock" that is what I am saying to myself as I take the turbo blender
& grind up the left over Rhine from watermelon & cantaloupe... Spoiled rotten little stinkers.. So I tell them they better let me
pick them up whether they like it or NOT!!! Enjoy this hot weather... It will be gone soon..

Someday I am gona say, "pop on over for BREW day!!" I am dreaming about it..

 

[City farm]

so, thinking about growing stuff in my yard i remembered to research the white stringy mold/fungus stuff that constantly shows up in one of my flower beds.everything that i plant there dies so it has has sat empty this year.  i also blamed that stuff for the death of my peach tree last year. anyway, i have been wondering about the possibility of texas root rot in my backyard. thankfully i'm not 100% convinced thats what it is since fig trees are highly susceptible and i have one growing well by the chickens run. and the white stuff is possibly mycelium which isnt a bad thing? **sigh** i guess i have lots more reading to do, because i hope to plant a few fruit trees this fall and dont want to suffer more losses.
my lot was basically a dirt pile when i bought the place, i assume it has been that way since the house was built over 30 years ago. any suggestions? i do amend the dirt with home cooked compost, and the chickens have pooped on every inch of the place...

Yeah, we had Texas root rot.. Lost 3-4 trees.. Citrus is a good and is not affected by it.. We had it bad.. I love the over grown look
We planted "TIPU" not sure if that is the correct spelling.. Love them...
Hey you could grow kombucha.. It is a fungus, good for lots of things... We use to.. But it takes over.. I do not have a baby
or I would give you one.. Although I might start growin it again & share with anyone that is interested..

Hey who has Moringa tree seeds???

 

[City farm]

I had a peach tree die all of a sudden and I wondered what it was. Then the orange tree right next to it did the same thing. Never saw any fungus or anything out of the ordinary. I've come to the conclusion, which might be wrong, but I think it's where all the backwashed pool water would collect. Any recommendations for books on the different diseases and their signs/what to look for?


Yeah your tree will die with in a week.. It was freaky..
That large dust storm was so large the dust in the sky had to have come from far away... Even the poo from ground squirrel was fly'n hi..
No wonder people had valley fever..
Which I found out is not related to Texas root rot...

 

[City farm]

So who are all the local breeders everyone uses?  Looking to get chicks next month so starting to plan now.  Feel free to pm if thats more appropriate.

Thanks,
Tim

Not a breeder here but our two hens decided to sit on eggs.. They are mixed breed.. Once they are born if they make it threw the heat.
They will all be free... I am hoping to get photos of some of their off spring this week.. That way I could give you a better idea of what
they will look like when they are older.. I will post if they hatch here first..

 

[City farm]

I almost missed this.  Yeah, every time a new one sprouted up it would ratchet up even more.  Add that to what looked like a mushroom cloud of smoke on the other side of the mountain, it kept us vigilant.  

No, sadly the event was a one time deal.  It was my friend's 50th birthday party.   I can't imagine Santa Fe being boring.  

Well she loves to eat out at restaurants & go to bars to watch UFC, football, ect... She says there is hardly anything to do there..
However that is a bummer.. I emailed her & said we need to go to this town..

 

[MagicChicken]

I forgot to mention, I saw a raccoon near my house. I would have sworn up and down that raccoons would only be found around the urban parks and lakes, and riparian areas like Tanque Verde or Sabino Canyon. Not the west side of Tucson, miles from any parks or lush riparian areas! My coop and run are dog proof, so also raccoon proof, but wow, a raccoon. I was so surprised, it took my mind a few seconds to reconcile what my eyes were seeing.

Uh oh, where on the west side are you? Do I need to keep an eye out for yet another predator? I'm west of the Tucson Mountains, near Bopp/San Joaquin.

 

[City farm]

Texas root rot is a fungal disease, so yes, mycelium is a bad thing if it is the root rot fungal mycelium. I was talking with Mark Dimmitt recently, he is former curator of plants at the Desert Museum, and he said to avoid Texas root rot, don't bring in soil from somewhere else, particularly if it is from old cotton fields, which can be infested with it. Of course some housing developments had fill brought in, don't know about your place. Did your peach tree die really suddenly? That is a hallmark of the disease, as well as the dead leaves stay hanging on the branches.

Edited..
Oops it is not a fungal disease?? That s what a person at a nursery said.. Now I feel misinformed.. I bought sulfur & spread it about..
I was in a hurry when I started to read & catch up..